Austal puts its own spin on traditional keel laying with ceremony for third Joint High Speed Vessel

View full sizeLeft to right are Joe Rella, Austal USA president and COO, U.S. Congressman Jo Bonner and Jeff Cellon, Austal fabricator, during keel-laying event on Thursday May 3, 2012 at Austal in Mobile. (Press-Register/Victor Calhoun)

MOBILE, Alabama - Austal, Navy and elected officials paused this afternoon to mark a major milestone in the life of the third Joint High Speed Vessel Austal is building for the Navy.

Austal hosted its own version of the traditional keel-laying ceremony that culminated in fabricator Jeff Cellon welding Congressman Jo Bonner's initials into an aluminum panel that will become part of the vessel.

Austal employees were among the approximately 100 people who gathered in the cavernous assembly building to listen to Austal President Joe Rella deliver a speech about the vessel and the program. The ceremony took place at the base of the glittering massive aluminum structure, consisting of five modules forming one of the vessel's two hulls. JHSVs follow a catamaran design.

"You only have to look outside at USNS Spearhead, our first Joint High Speed Vessel, to see that this ship will be a revolutionary platform that will bring an unprecedented level of capability and support to our combatant commanders, around the world," Rella said. "The first three JHSVs will be headed to the Pacific, and support the Navy and Marine Corps mobility and presence requirements there. These ships--though some still insist that they will not be combatants-- will be on the front line, supporting Navy priorities and helping the Marine Corps be where it needs to be in the Pacific."

Dimensions of one of the JHSV 3 modules recently transported from the MMF and added to the structure that made up the "keel" referred to in the ceremony today: . 66.9 feet long, with a maximum width of 27.2 feet. It is 30.8 feet tall from keel to main deck, weighing just under 46 metric tons.

JHSVs are designed to transport troops, equipment and supplies quickly throughout theaters. They are equipped with helicopter landing pads and can quickly maneuver and operate in shallow waters.

Spearhead successfully completed builder's sea trials last month in the Gulf, with Rella calling it the most successful sea trial he had probably ever seen.

The full program consists of 10 vessels and is potentially worth over $1.6 billion.

Rella emphasized the program's efficiency and cost-effectiveness, noting that construction of the current JHSV is progressing at about a 30 percent faster rate than that of Spearhead.

Capt. Henry Stevens III, Strategic and Theater Sealift Program Manager, said the lessons learned on construction of the first two JHSVs is becoming evident. "Austal is clearly hitting its stride," Stevens said. "It's no longer a Powerpoint or a drawing, but an actual vessel that easily demonstrates its raw power, speed and flexibility."

As he has done before, Rella referred to the Gulf Coast as the "Silicon Valley of Shipbuilding," with its ideal weather, political environment and labor pool creating the "perfect storm" that's lent itself to building the ships.

"Sadly, today in Washington, D.C., there is the 'perfect budgetary storm'" that he said threatened to stifle expansion of the local economy.

"Each payroll dollar spent in Mobile means an expansion to the local economy of at least three dollars," he said. "Over the eight years that it will take us to build all ten of these ships, a boost of approximately $2 billion dollars will flow into the local economy."